Battle of Worcester

The Battle of Worcester (3 September 1651) was the final battle of the English Civil War, fought between the 31,000-strong Parliamentarian army of Oliver Cromwell and the 16,000-strong Cavalier army of King Charles II of England. King Charles intended on marching south from Scotland with an army of royalists, hoping to surprise the Parliamentarians. However, the royalist forces failed to have the element of surprise, and the Parliamentarians held off Royalist assaults on their center as they sent another force to flank the royalists. 3,000 royalists were killed and 10,000 were captured, leaving only 3,000 royalist troops to support Charles. Charles decided to go into exile in France after the defeat at Worcester, and Cromwell was free to seize power as the leader of the English Commonwealth.